A WORCESTER entrepreneur's product is about to hit the mass market, thanks to help from a special manufacturing support group.

The Manufacturing Advisory Service West Midlands (MAS-WM) is a free or heavily subsidised service providing hands- on advice and support to the region's 17,000 manufacturers.

Thanks to its help, Nick Lewis, managing director of M2M Made To Measure Coat Hangers, has been able to rapidly develop and test a new range of his patented adjustable coat hangers - and halve their manufacturing costs.

Mr Lewis received nine days of free help and advice from MAS-WM, which is a joint initiative from the Department of Trade and Industry and Advantage West Midlands.

He was also helped by the Warwick Manufacturing Group, at Warwick University, all completely funded by MAS-WM.

He is now in talks with major retailers to use the hangers for in-store fashion displays. He is also in negotiations to sell the hangers direct to customers.

The original product won a Chief Executive Design Council Award and appeared on the BBC's Best Inventions programme. "Clothing boutiques and businesses such as BMW found the product ideal for fashion display purposes, due to the benefit of stocking one hanger for all sizes," said Mr Lewis, who is based in Claines.

"For consumer markets, however, the hanger was proving a niche product, available only through publications such as the Innovations catalogue."

Mr Lewis contacted MAS-WM and was put in touch with an adviser, who conducted numerous site visits and an analysis of the situation.

Mr Lewis was then referred to design experts at Warwick Manufacturing Group, who used Computer Aided Design (CAD) programming to enable a process of "rapid prototyping", allowing him to quickly develop and adjust his design.

The 3D CAD data was then used to produce test products.

"Breaking into the mainstream consumer market was always the main goal," said Mr Lewis. "The design now has more functionality and we're expanding the range to include travel, wood and children's versions.

"The help I've received from MAS and Warwick University has allowed me to quickly and cost-effectively develop the product."

For details about MAS-WM call 0845 245 0845 or visit www.mas-wm.org.